Topic 108 [jewish]: The American Jewish Press
#42 of 125: Tamar Kaufman (tamar) Mon Jul 1 '91 (20:56) 7 lines
A little boasting... for the first time I won a writing award, the
Rockower award for Jewish journalism.
Wouldn't you know my first award would be anonymous? It was for an
unsigned editorial.
>sigh<
Topic 108 [jewish]: The American Jewish Press
#49 of 125: Tamar Kaufman (tamar) Wed Jul 3 '91 (08:19) 8 lines
...
And thanks to all those who chorused their congrats to me.
I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible...
(the editorial, for those who asked, was about the women of the wall. I'll
upload it if you like... I must have it around on disk somewhere...)
Topic 108 [jewish]: The American Jewish Press
#50 of 125: Tamar Kaufman (tamar) Wed Jul 3 '91 (10:28) 63 lines
In response to popular demand , here is the Jewish
Bulletin editorial (from Jan. 12, 1990) that won first prize:
WHY CAN'T WOMEN PRAY?
Are Jewish women Jews?
Not according to Israel's ministers of religions and justice.
Last month they signed a law essentially making it a criminal
act for a woman to read from the Torah, wear a _tallit_
(prayer shawl), or even raise her voice in prayer at the
Western Wall.
Since that is how Jews pray -- especially at their holiest
site -- clearly women are something else. In addition, women
praying at the Western Wall have been accused of disrupting
"the worshippers." Apparently, women do not qualify as
worshippers, while men who attack them do.
The women have been more than patient. When asked, while
awaiting a court decision, to read their Torah away from the
Wall, they found a nearby garden. They also refrained from
wearing _tallitot_ and raising their voices, and have never
challenged the _mechitza_ (barrier between the sexes), a
structure alien to all non-Orthodox Jews, women and men.
What's more, although the Women of the Wall come from all
four branches of Judaism, they pray according to Orthodox
norms.
Despite their efforts, and the presence of scholars and
rabbis among them, the Women of the Wall are continually
attacked and painted with a very telling label: "_Reformiot_"
-- Reform -- an insult that in Israel is tantamount to
"apostate."
So why should we care?
Because the Israeli religious parties have arrogated the
right to define who is a Jew and what is proper Jewish
worship. Here in the Bay Area, we can ignore them, praying
together, reading from the Torah, wearing tallitot, welcoming
who we will to our services. But if we set foot at Judaism's
holiest site -- which supposedly belongs to the entire Jewish
people -- we enter their private domain. And if we take
seriously Israel's pleas for _aliyah_ (immigration), we have
even bigger problems.
Primarily due to a history of capitulation by Israeli
authorities, Reform and Conservative rabbis cannot preside at
weddings in Israel, non-Orthodox divorcees cannot remarry,
and non-Orthodox converts have to fight for citizenship.
The Jewish state, with the acquiescence of a predominantly
non-Orthodox diaspora leadership, has betrayed the promise of
its own Declaration of Independence, which, among other
things, guarantees freedom of worship and the safeguarding
"of the shrines and holy places of all religions." Except,
apparently, the Jewish religion.
The Women of the Wall are the vanguard in a long-overdue
effort to demand equal rights for all Jews. They deserve our
unstinting support.